SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, Aug. 25, 2023 (Gephardt Daily) — Charges have been filed against a West Jordan man accused of using cellphone tracking software to stalk his wife, then assaulting and shooting her earlier this month.
Charles James Coprich, 58, was arrested Aug. 18 after officers found his injured wife in the back seat of a car near 3400 S. State St., Salt Lake City police said. The woman had two gunshot wounds to her upper back, though her injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
Officers first responded about 12:25 a.m. to reports of a possible shooting near 600 West and South Temple, police said.
Police say Coprich used cellphone tracking software to locate his wife and found her in a vehicle with a man in Salt Lake City.
The man told police he had pulled over and gotten out of the vehicle when Coprich pointed a gun at him and fired three shots, according to charges filed Thursday in 3rd District Court. The man was uninjured, police said.
Coprich then walked to the vehicle and fired two shots at his wife, the witness told police.
The man told police Coprich “then grabbed [the woman], pulled her out of the vehicle, and began to ‘beat her'” before driving away with her, charges state.
Witnesses provided a description of a vehicle leaving the area following the shooting, and police spotted the car “driving erratically at a high rate of speed” near 400 South and 900 West a short time later, according to charging documents.
Coprich was arrested without incident during a traffic stop, police said. A 9mm handgun was found on the front passenger seat of the vehicle, charges state.
The woman was taken to an area hospital with two gunshot wounds to her upper back, as well as a broken rib and other internal injuries, according to charging documents.
Coprich has been charged with:
- Stalking with a weapon, a second-degree felony
- Two counts of felony discharge of a firearm with injury, a second degree-felony
- Two counts of felony discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony
- Assault, a class B misdemeanor
He is being held without bail in the Salt Lake County jail system.
